The Inca Trail - my highlight so far

We started the infamous Inca trail on Sunday and hiked for 4 days from km82 (this is the 82km point from Cusco towards Macchu Picchu) to Macchu Picchu. Its a 47km hike over 4 days going from 2600m above sea level to the highest point at 4200m. Cusco was the centre of the Incan world from where the kings lived and ruled the Incan empire. there are various important towns around Cusco which had important roles - military (protection) or spiritual (religious) or for food storage and rest when the Incas travelled between the areas. Macchu Picchu was a very important town in the Incan world, built high on the Macchu Picchu mountain, where they believe 700 incas lived and possibly 300 more could stay when visiting the area.

Day 1 hike is 12km and is the easiest day, being mostly flat with 2 steep walks but nothing bad at all. Day 2 is the hardest day where we start the incline from 3000m to 4200m. We all did really well and fnished the day´s hike in 6 hours. At that height and in the mountains the weather can change so quickly. Unfortunately that night the rains started and day 3 was spent hiking in torrential rain and we missed all the views of the valley which are supposed to be spectacular. Spirits were still high despite the rain and we woke again in day 4 to pouring rain. So our hike to the Sun Gate to see the spectacular Macchu Picchu was a view of the clouds. Luckily after the hike further down we got to see the views - breathtaking and the photos dont do it justice. After hiking for 4 days its a great sense of accomplishment too and this was definitely the highlight of my trip and i recommend it to everyone.